Logo
ABOUTACADEMICSSERVICESCOMMUNITYMEDIAEVENTS

The Pillar: Ashland Theological Seminary
Alumni & Community Newsletter
                   
     Volume 1, Issue 5
In this Issue
Quick Links
Prayer Requests & Praise Reports
Jobs & Internships
Blog for ATS
We invite friends and members of the Ashland Theological Seminary community to write about any topic related to ministry, missions, church, family, marketplace, evangelism, bi-vocational ministry or Christian life in general. Email Roberto Ponce, Associate Vice President of Marketing and Recruitment, at jponce@ashland.edu with questions or to submit a post for TheTableBlog.net.
Devotional
WHO WERE YOU CREATED TO BE? 
By Amy Davies, MA Spiritual Formation Candidate
Have you become the person that God has created you to be? Are you walking in your divine destiny? Some of us have graduated from seminary more recently than others, and yet, it is good to evaluate our ministry and our relationship with God to see if we are walking in the path that He has prepared and ordained for us. There is a process that we have to go through to become the men and women that God created us to be.
Stay Connected
January 30, 2015 


Columbus Advisory Board Members, ATS Staff Members and students built community as they made improvements to the Columbus Center during a service day on Jan. 10. Top, from left to right: Rev. David Williams, Director of Membership at New Salem Missionary Baptist Church; Clinical Mental Health Counseling Student Xandula Gaitor; and Executive Director, City Gates Initiative Doug Cooper paint a hallway. Bottom: Jill Slater, Director, ATS Fund & Grant Proposals trims outside of a classroom. 

Our seminary community amazes me in its ability to serve one another. I have witnessed service in the form of quality time spent, encouraging words shared, acts of service and more. As an extension, our alumni community serves with true joy within their churches and towns. 

During a recent visit to an alumnus' church, I learned that he and his wife provide spiritual direction and support to dozens of families and individuals within their congregation and have served in this capacity for several years. I know this is just the beginning of the service you as alumni and members of our extended community provide to others in your circles of influence.

You are offering yourselves as living sacrifices, just as Paul encouraged among the Romans. "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-this is your true and proper worship," Romans 12:1, NIV.

I hope that you can set aside time to receive in the upcoming weeks and months through our seminars, conferences and retreats. As it is often said but less often put into practice, taking time to recharge and fellowship allows Jesus to transform you.

Abundant Blessings,
MINISTRY OF GROWING GENEROUS DISCIPLES SERIES
Stewardship 101: Cultivating Generous Givers
March 12, 2015 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. | Cleveland Center

 

  
  

Stewardship is the management of ALL the gifts God has given us including life, time,

talents, relationships, environment, assets, money and of course the greatest gift of all, God's Son, Jesus Christ. However in the life of the church we equate "Stewardship" with "money" and for most churches, it is an ongoing struggle to have adequate funds to accomplish all God is calling us to accomplish for making disciples and reaching out in missions. 

______________________________________________________________________________

Stewardship 201: Next Steps to Growing Generous Givers 
April 9, 2015 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. | Columbus Center 
 

Are you ready for the next step to cultivate generous givers in your congregation? Become equipped with the tools to take generous giving to next level and discover how to implement your stewardship plan. Receive strategies for working with significant donors and understanding their motivations.

 

_____________________________________________________________________

 

Creating a Planned Giving Strategy
May 19, 2015 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. | Ashland Campus


Stewardship in the church has largely been focused on tithes and offerings from income for the ongoing operational expenses of the local church. We faithfully give out of our income but spend little time talking about planned giving from our assets, especially as part of an estate plan. It is projected that $42 trillion will transfer from one generation to the next in the coming years. In 2013, 8 percent of all philanthropic giving or $24.4 billion came from bequests. 


Register Now

_____________________________________________________________________
 

REGISTRATION COSTS FOR ALL SEMINARS
  

CEUs: .8 | Standard Price: $55 | Alumni Price: $45 

Groups of 3 or more from the same organization: $40 per participant 

Current MDiv & MAPT Students: Lilly Grant Scholarship 
Christian Spirituality Retreat Day
March 21, 2015 | University Circle | 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. | $15
 

Ashland Theological Seminary is offering a spiritual renewal day in Cleveland on Saturday, March 21, 2015. The day is built upon our spring semester class, "History and Literature of Christian Spirituality," led by the Rev. Tom Snyder, adjunct faculty. Alumni and members of the community are invited to share in the learning and formational activities of the day.
  

                               By Lisa DeJong/The Plain Dealer
Noah: The Eve of the Deluge" by John Linnell, painted in       1848, hangs in one of the newly reinstalled galleries of the     Cleveland Museum of Art.

The day begins at 10 a.m. at the Cleveland Museum of Art (11150 East Boulevard, Cleveland, OH 44106) with guided tours and spiritual exercises based on works of Christian art through the ages. Lunch will be at 11:45 a.m. in the Museum Caf� in the Atrium.


We reconvene across the street at 1 p.m. at University Circle United Methodist Church, an historic architectural landmark, for an afternoon of spiritual formation opportunities. These will include an introduction to and walking the labyrinth; the exploration of sacred space; photography and sacred spaces; spiritual writing inspired by sacred images; and a closing Eucharist. Transportation will be available from Ashland on a first-come, first-served basis.

 

Register Now
Daniel Hawk, Ph.D., Faculty Lecture
"Who's in Your Space?"
March 24 | Detroit Center | 7 to 8:30 p.m.
 
The Christian discipline of hospitality welcomes others into our sphere of belonging, as an extension of God's welcome of us into the divine life. Join us a reflection on the book of Ruth, one of the most elegant biblical pictures of this core spiritual practice. 
Alumni Chapel Service
April 8 | Ronk Memorial Chapel, Ashland Campus | 9:40 to 10:20 a.m. 
 

Alumni are invited to attend our Easter service in Ronk Memorial Chapel. Alumnus and Senior Pastor of Grace Brethren Church of Homer Reid Firestone, will deliver the message "Timeless Tips," based in Matthew 28:1-8. Visit with seminary faculty, administration, and staff members during a reception after the service in the chapel lobby.

 

Learn More
Lead Me to the Rock: Leadership Conference
April 17 & 18 | Mt. Zion Oakwood Village | Standard: $50 | Alumni: $40

Join us for a two-day equipping and worship event in Northeast Ohio. Ashland Theological Seminary's Cleveland Center invites you to learn from Rev. Marvin A. McMickle, Ph.D., President & Professor of Church Leadership at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, as well as other inspiring voices on leadership. Experience the power of the Lord to transform faint and weary hearts. A program, materials and dinner are included with your registration fee.    


From the ends of the earth I call to you, 

I call as my heart grows faint;
lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the foe. 

Psalm 61:2-3, NIV 

 

Register Now
John and Charles Wesley Retreat
April 24 & 25 | Ashland Campus | $50

United Methodists from across the North Central Jurisdiction are invited to immerse themselves in serious examination of the lives and works of John and Charles Wesley. The retreat is the culmination of an eight-month long study with the primary resource being "John and Charles Wesley: Selections from Their Writing and Hymns," by Paul Chilcote, Ph.D. The event is open to the community, not only book study participants.
 

Register Now
Ashland Theological Seminary 
PH 419.289.5926 | FX 419-207-6077

Copyright � 2014. All Rights Reserved.